Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter has nearly made up his mind whether to run for attorney general, a career trajectory he called a “natural progression,” and he told the News Service he plans to make an announcement next week.

Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter has nearly made up his mind whether to run for attorney general, a career trajectory he called a “natural progression,” and he told the News Service he plans to make an announcement next week.

Attorney General Martha Coakley’s entry into the gubernatorial field has created an opening for the top law enforcement office in the state, and though he would not say in which direction he is leaning, Sutter said he has nearly gelled on what his plans will be.

“I’ve now been district attorney for close to seven years, so I would very much like to make an impact beyond the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office and this is obviously a natural progression,” Sutter told the News Service Wednesday after testifying on behalf of a friend and colleague up for a Taunton judgeship. He said, “I know in which direction I’m leaning. I cannot say with certainty that I have decided, but I didn’t want to belabor the process.”

Though Coakley announced her candidacy in mid-September, after hinting at a bid and openly eyeing the governorship for weeks prior, the field to replace her is wide open after Secretary of State William Galvin announced Tuesday he would not run for AG.

A source close to former state Sen. Warren Tolman said Wednesday that Tolman is giving the attorney general’s race serious consideration, while a political adviser to state Rep. Harold Naughton, a Clinton Democrat, said the military lawyer and former prosecutor is interested in running for that seat instead of lieutenant governor, which he was previously eyeing.

On the Republican side, two GOP strategists said members of the party have urged former Gov. Mitt Romney’s close adviser Peter Flaherty to enter the race. Flaherty is a former Suffolk County assistant district attorney who works with the Shawmut Group and served in Romney’s administration and by his side on the presidential trail.

Sutter, who said he planned to keep his word from a little less than a month ago to make a decision by the end of next week, said he has not been reaching out to people, and said he would do “a ton of that” if he decides to run.